Two men charged with selling counterfeit gold coins

Updated 9:02 pm, Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Colonie police released this image of a Craigslist ad they say was for counterfeit coins.

Colonie police released this image of a Craigslist ad they say was for counterfeit coins.

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Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

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Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

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Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

Counterfeit coins Colonie police say they seized from two suspects.

Two men charged with selling counterfeit gold coins

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Colonie

Two Queens men are charged with selling fake gold coins after they allegedly scammed a victim out of $14,000.

Colonie officers arrested Sungwook Hong, 33, and Yohann Pyon, 26, after they allegedly tried to sell coins to an undercover investigator. The department learned of the coin scam on May 28 when a victim reported answering a Craigslist offering of 1-ounce American Gold Eagle coins for sale.

The victim, who bought 12 coins for $14,000, was told a local jeweler had tested the coins for gold, but he later learned they had only a gold coating.

Responding to the Craigslist posting, a Colonie police investigator agreed to buy 10 coins for $12,000 on June 5 in the Hoffman's Playland parking lot. The two men who met the undercover investigator there agreed to the sale and were arrested.

The pair allegedly admitted they were involved in approximately 10 similar sales in New York and surrounding states of the coins that were obtained from China.

Hong and Pyon face felony charges of criminal possession of a forged instrument, attempted grand larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the June 5 sting.

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Hong faces additional charges from the May 28 transaction of grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument.